Marketing with Video Content in the Digital Age [Interview]

Amobee’s recent report “Different Generations, Different Standards” looked at how marketers are investing in various video formats to reach out to their target audiences.

In the future, the majority of marketers (51 percent) said they believe that new formats, such as 360-degree video, will encourage their companies to invest more in online video.

To learn more about the direction the industry is headed, we spoke to Jonathan Gardner, Vice President of Communications at Amobee.

How are you already seeing marketers/agencies incorporate some of the newer video formats (360-degree, etc.)? Is it widespread or still emerging?

“I’d say it’s both widespread and emerging. It’s widespread in that most major brands and advertisers are interested in trying out new formats. Brands are naturally interested in vertical and 360° because there’s a halo effect in being involved with new types of media.

Our recent research showed among ad execs, 51 percent of respondents said they consider new formats like vertical or 360° to be a key factor in getting brands to invest more in online video. There’s a lot of experimentation going on but what we’ve seen plainly is to grow the space, buyers want to see real KPIs connected with any video spend.

We always advise our clients to look at the right mix of KPIs for their objectives and to ask the right questions.

• Is this format going to help my KPIs? If you want to test a new format, first double check what you’re trying to accomplish overall.
• Is the format going to be counter-productive or not matter at all? Often marketers get too caught up performance metrics like click-through rates. Conversions are a better metric, but you need to look at an overall conversion across a full funnel plan to make sure you’re getting the full picture.

Video completion rates can be interesting, but ultimately the best KPI is sales.”

Just 33 percent of respondents under 30 believe that video ad spend will increase marginally in the future, while 90 percent of their counterparts said it will increase significantly – why do you think this is the case?

“While it could appear that they believe new money isn’t coming in, it’s important to remember the stats here are weighted against one another. Relatively speaking, the budgets have continued to shift from linear TV spend, but we see these as just the breakdown of a more fundamental trend in general advertising growth.

In general, there is a great deal of optimism across the board for the growth in online video advertising. Just look at the market five years ago and how much of a shift we’ve seen from older formats, such as banner ads.”

Would you say marketers – regardless of their age – are in general agreement that video advertising is still an avenue toward success?

“We would definitely say that. There is a general consensus that video advertising delivers value for brands.

What’s more, regardless of the output, all marketers see value in the tactics and philosophy of using ad messages and creative that are more highly engaging, immersive and connect with consumers where, when and how they want to engage.

One group has grown up with digital and challenges incumbent metrics, and the other has experienced the rise and transformation of television first-hand. The discrepancies don’t prove one generation correct and the other incorrect.

Younger people appear more blasé about video metrics, but they may actually see view-ability as less important than actually just making good ads.

The research also showed, interestingly, that brands are also still focused on metrics like clicks and conversions — as opposed to view-ability — which is expected from buyers who have been strictly on the digital side.”

What methods, aside from video, are marketers turning to in order to get their clients’ brand message across?

“We are seeing tremendous growth in brands looking at the entire “customer journey,” meaning that they understand no one is glued to their TV screen watching commercials all day long.

Most people use multiple devices, looking at many different screens and channels. These engagements offer brands the opportunity to segment and target messages depending on where they are in their day, and where they are in the thought process of making a purchase decision.

For example, you could be on an iPad in the morning, thinking about buying a new pair of yoga pants, and throughout the day, as you move along a path to a potential purchase, a brand that’s responsive to your contexts, mindset, content consumption and locations, could find unique ways to use data, strategy and creative to help you along the customer journey to make a purchase.

Tactically, marketers that are thinking this way are working with partners like us to centralize and mine insights from all of their audience data, engage audiences across all social, video and mobile channels, then analyze and optimize their campaigns based on their results.”

In your opinion, what was the most interesting statistic/finding in the report?

“We asked survey respondents if video actually got the job done for marketers. Eighty-four percent of respondents said video is the most effective medium to get a client’s brand message across. Only 3 percent of respondents said they found the medium ineffective.

This shows that confidence in video is high, and that despite some challenges in standardizing the medium, the future of video looks bright to those who are using it.”

For your free copy of the “Different Generations, Different Standards” report, click here.

ABOUT JONATHAN GARDNER

Jonathan Gardner is vice president of communications at Amobee (formerly Turn), one of the world’s largest independent marketing technology and services providers.

He has led marketing and communications for companies ranging from startups to Fortune 500 enterprises — in the U.S., EMEA and APAC. Find him on Twitter: @thejongardner.